CHENNAI: Fifteen-year-old Natasha Chetan of Karnataka won the national girls' sub-junior billiards event by defeating Aanya Patel of Gujarat 143-107 in the final of the 90th National Billiards and Snooker championships held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
Natasha Chetan, who is one of the most talented youngsters in the country, has been trying to raise the bar by participating in higher age-group tournaments and winning them too. This year has been a fruitful year. ''Any win is always amazing, including this one. It's an amazing feeling to win the national sub-junior billiards title and I look forward to a few more in this category'' an elated Natasha told this daily.
''I have been in a couple of finals now and you're always under a certain amount of pressure regardless of the opponent. I played against Aanya Patel of Gujarat and we have been competing with each other for quite a few years now. It's nice to have peers who drive you to be better.''
Although she is known more for her exploits in snooker, she excelled in billiards too on Saturday. ''Well, I think the reason for my win is good coaching, amazing support from my parents and coach Pranit Ramchandani who has been an incredible mentor, guide and friend from the moment I picked up my cue. I'm not much of a billiards player. I play snooker more often so I think I played not too badly throughout the tournament but I could have done better. There is always scope for doing better,'' she insisted.
Natasha held her first cue at the tender age of 10 years after seeing her mother play the game at a Bengaluru club. She developed a liking for the game and has made steady progress in the sport. She has even opted to study in private and not go to a regular school to pursue her passion.
''I am doing (studying) NIOS, which is distance learning for children who want to pursue sports. I developed a liking for the sport when I saw my mother play at a club. And then I met my coach, Pranit Ramchandani, who is an inspiration and whose understanding of the game amazed me. He has been guiding me,'' said Natasha.
Regular training and sessions with her coach Pranit have helped Natasha evolve as a player of repute. Plus, the facilities in Bengaluru for the sport have helped her grow in the sport.
''Thankfully, Bengaluru has several practice facilities and snooker parlours and clubs, and I am fortunate enough to be a member of a few of them. I play in clubs like Century Club, Bangalore Club, KSBA of course and a few others. This has helped to improve my game over a period of time. And thus I won the Asia-Pacific Women's Challenge Cup held in February 2023 in Sydney, Australia. I bagged a bronze in this year's U-21 Women's World Snooker Championship held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I also won the U-21 event at the Taom UK Women's Championships in September 2023 in Leeds. I also won the National Pool Championships in Indore held in September 2023. Notably, at The Crucible this year, I was among young players from across the world who were listed as the 'Class of 2023'," said the talented youngster.
Any cue sports enthusiast from Karnataka will certainly be influenced by the great Pankaj Advani, and Natasha is no different.
''As a junior playing in KSBA, we occasionally do see Pankaj Advani around. Pankaj has always been a skilled cueist, he is and always has been very passionate about the sport and certainly radiates that energy. My goal is to get better at the sport and get on the WSF pro tour. It's any snooker player's dream and ambition. My role models are Ronnie O Sullivan, Shawn Murphy, John Higgins, Mark Williams and several others on tour,'' signed off Natasha.
Results:
Sub-Junior billiards girls:
Final: Natasha Chetan (Kar) bt Aanya Patel (Guj) 143-107. 3rd Place: L Shruthi (TN) bt Sanvi Shah (MP) 129-114.
